Hot prospect
ZELIENOPLE — Heat-treating metal for the transportation, railroad and mining industries is an infinitely more exact science than it was in the past, when an employee would eyeball a spinning, red hot piece of metal and deem it just the right temperature.
"It's all done by computers now," said Jim Orr, owner of Penna Flame Industries.
The company has been flame-hardening metal since Orr's late father, Garrett, opened the business 40 years ago after a stint as a salesman in the field demonstrated a regional need for the industry. The company was located on Route 588 to serve the Pittsburgh and Cleveland markets, but it now boasts customers in Milwaukee, Detroit, Philadelphia and Virginia.
Penna Flame offers customers several services in hardening metal, which involve different methods of heating. Some metals are then cryogenically frozen to 120 to 200 degrees below zero to assure the complete transformation of the metal's surface to the desired hardness and to prevent the appearance of undesired substances.Custom heat-treating for clients with specific needs is also a trademark of Penna Flame."Working closely with the manufacturers on the latest technology has been the key to both the success of the precision surface hardening process and the end product to the customer," Orr said.Penna Flame employs 30 workers in the main, 18,000-square-foot building and 12,000-square-foot machine shop on the property. One production employee, Bob Bubb, has been with the company since its inception.Orr said improving along with technology has been paramount to Penna Flame's present and continued success. The company recently bought a robot from Robert Morris University that, upon its arrival and installation, will do the task that use to be done by a human.
That person now will monitor the robot.Orr said as his company has implemented technological advances such as the robot, the expectations of prospective employees have changed."New employees don't want to stand there all day long," said Orr. "Kids coming in nowadays want to push buttons. The work force is changing."He said Penna Flame's success depends on continued technological advances in heat-treating metal."We have taken everything to the next level of sophistication," said Orr. "We embrace technology."Orr said workers are given extensive training on the computers that have infiltrated their workspaces over the years."If you sit stagnant, the world is going to pass you by and you'll be out of business," Orr said.
Penna Flame has worked on a number of impressive projects over the years, hardening a handful of celebrated metal.Orr said Penna Flame heat-treated a bearing for the vehicle used to move space shuttles to the launch pad. The company also worked on the 500 wheels under the University of Phoenix football field that allow it to be rolled out of the stadium for nonfootball venues.Penna Flame frequently works on the heat-treated wheels that open the roofs of large football and baseball stadiums.Looking to the future of the company his father founded and that he joined in 1980, Orr said a third generation Orr is poised to join the company's management team after graduating from college in 2009."It'll stay in the family," said Orr.
